Migrants cut through barbed wire to enter Greece

Migrants on Saturday tore at the barbed wire marking the border between Turkey and Greece in Pazarkule, attempting to cross into Europe after Turkey signalled that it would let migrants leave.

Video broadcast by the Turkish DHA news agency shows some migrants trying to climb through a hole in the fence to reach Greece.

Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrians and under a 2016 deal with the EU agreed to step up efforts to halt the flow of refugees to Europe.

Since then, Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to “open the gates,” playing on European nervousness about a new surge.

DHA reported that some 300 Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Moroccans and Pakistanis were gathering at the border with Greece, while others massed at beaches facing Greek islands off Turkey's western coast.

This comes as NATO on Friday called on Syria and Russia to halt their airstrikes following the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in northeastern Syria.

The European Union warned that the fighting in northern Syria could degenerate into open war and that it stood ready to protect its security interests.

Greece and neighboring Bulgaria bolstered border security.